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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 08-16-2018, 03:19 PM  
$$$ony leads FF in USA
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 105
Views: 5,332
Pentax seemed to do the feature trickle down for a while when they refreshed their lines. It's good for amortization. Harder to tell what they're up to nowadays as their release cycles have stretched longer and longer.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-16-2018, 03:16 PM  
D-FA* 85mm f1.4 also coming
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 1,820
Views: 202,559
Jesus you're unpleasant and insufferable.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 08-11-2018, 12:06 PM  
Leica doesn't exist
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 71
Views: 4,168
Knew someone who had a fancy Leica digital but this person never brought it out much for fear of ruining the pristine finish of such a collector's item. Sold it for a different brand kit that could actually be used.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 08-09-2018, 03:26 PM  
Nikon Financial Info August7 2018
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 9
Views: 1,146
Unless I'm mistaken, despite the profit shown in the last quarters, Nikon market-share in bodies and lenses continues to fall faster than the decline in the overall market so they're losing ground relative to their competitors.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 08-08-2018, 09:14 AM  
Nikon Financial Info August7 2018
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 9
Views: 1,146
I'm not sure how you can say they're on a roll when their revenue continues to drop along with their unit sales (including lenses). Margins obviously increase when a high end full frame camera is the only new thing you have in the lineup but how long and how many of those can you sell without the base below it for support?
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 08-06-2018, 10:11 AM  
Fuji XF10, getting the jump on Ricoh GR3
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 43
Views: 6,532
I mean what else to call it? It's hard to compete selling 5 year old cameras. Protracted release cycles do not inspire confidence or positivity.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 07-19-2018, 03:19 PM  
Fuji XF10, getting the jump on Ricoh GR3
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 43
Views: 6,532
The biggest problem is the lack of actual new product they're putting out.
Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 07-19-2018, 03:00 PM  
Fuji XF10, getting the jump on Ricoh GR3
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 43
Views: 6,532
When you sit back and do nothing/say nothing and generally ossify... don't be surprised when competitors get the jump on you and previous customers quickly become former customers. This thing is priced excellently, hopefully it performs well.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 03-02-2018, 09:45 AM  
The official presentation (Ricoh) of the Pentax Mark II
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 331
Views: 40,522
Brand X doesn't do Y, here are a list of not convincing rationalizations why it's for the best. Brand X a few years down the road begins doing Y. The tune predictably changes. Just you wait for the day when video oriented sensors will be the only option on the market.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 03-02-2018, 08:58 AM  
The official presentation (Ricoh) of the Pentax Mark II
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 331
Views: 40,522
PF 2006: Full frame? We don't care about full frame! We got excellent APS image quality with a line up of quality APS lenses! Who needs to be in the full frame rat race?
PF 2016: Full frame K-1 is the greatest innovation ever! Look at that new tilt LCD! Pentax being Pentax!
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-05-2017, 02:50 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
CDAF is a computer algorithm not voodoo magic. It takes input from the sensor, does work, and produces output for the AF drive system. In a properly modular design it can be re-used in different devices (and Pentax's camera platform does appear to be modular enough for them to re-use things). What you're saying is like saying a sorting algorithm on a smartphone costs less than a sorting algorithm on a supercomputer because of reasons. Plus as somebody else pointed out, they did end up doing a bastardized version of it for the K-01. The whole Q/K-01 program just seemed like a huge waste in resource allocation, one-offs in trying to be different, and both now abandoned.

No K products in 2011 is irrelevant. They were allowed to launch the entirely new Q mount with cameras and lenses.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-05-2017, 10:59 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
A hypothetical Pentax APS mirrorless cam in 2011 could have easily used the imaging pipeline and firmware/menu system from the K-5 at the time as its base with other bits like new contrast detect AF (as developed for the Q) bolted on.

The Q is effectively abandoned anyway. It's getting close to 4 years without anything new or a peep from Ricoh. I mean Nikon hasn't said their 1 system is dead either but most people consider it dead and that system comes from a bigger manufacturer and has had a more recent new product release than the Q.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-05-2017, 10:49 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
As Pentax did before in the same way that the AF/software/firmware developed for APS DSLR's got re-used in its larger 645-based cousin to cut down on development costs. Why don't you explain to me how designing a small sensor MILC system from scratch requires much less funding than developing a large sensor MILC system from scratch? They had to design new camera bodies, new mount, new glass, and new contrast detect AF system either way.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-05-2017, 09:36 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
Many of the fixed costs are the same and Pentax could have re-used the hardware and firmware guts from the APS line of DSLR's.





Yeah I'm not in Japan. I wasn't looking in the right country. of course if we're talking Ricoh here, like their other product lines, they'll probably stop releasing new iterations at some point in the future and say nothing while new competitors enter the market with new and improved products
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-05-2017, 08:42 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
That wasn't the point. The point was that even in the markets that Pentax is/was competing in (where Pentax/Ricoh had an excellent product) they've stood still and haven't iterated any new product or given current users any hope of any sort of upgrade coming soon (while existing competitors moved forward and new ones have shown up to the party) and even in the markets where they've shown a bit of life (K-1 FF), there doesn't seem to be any urgency to their actions. Where's the new GR? Where's the 100mp 645Z+? Why are there people saying the KP is not a K-3 successor?



I understand it's as dead as the Nikon 1 with not much development in almost 4 years, not even toy lenses. With no new products in almost 4 years, does this mean Pentax/Ricoh doesn't understand the Q concept either? Maybe they think it's complete?



I'm talking about before Ricoh's time back when Hoya was raiding the company. The resources that went into the Q could have easily gone into a large sensor Q that would have beat Fuji to market by a year. A mirrorless system with Pentax build/ergonomics with compact metal limited primes and real focus/DOF marks? Yes please. I think they would have made a killing but I think you're correct... we're 7 years too late for that.



Ironically, the Q started off with a cell phone grade sensor (the same ones being maligned in this thread as being subpar and not replacements for ILC's) and only upgraded to a slightly better than cell phone grade sensor a couple of years after release.

FWIW I've never seen a Theta in the wild. I see plenty of Canon/Nikon DSLR's, Sony a cameras, and the occasional Fuji or m43.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 10-03-2017, 05:32 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
Some enthusiasts have gotten a taste of the smaller ILC systems and have decided the trade offs in size and weight weren't worth the marginal gains of a slightly larger DSLR (FF and APS) sensor; that they could get what they wanted out of less. Still gotta sell what people want... yes even enthusiasts with GAS.

If we look at what Pentax has been doing: K-1 FF is released but promised new FF lenses are slow to arrive with little indication of what's happening. Good products like the GR have been left to die (as if it were the Nikon 1) while everybody else releases newer and better versions. Releasing a toy mirrorless ILC while Fuji, Sony, Olympus, and folks got entrenched in that market. There's no reason why Pentax couldn't have been in a better position than Fuji in the MILC market right now. The 645 often being cited as a nice ace in the sleeve but what's happening with it now? What if Sony decides they want to play with P1 and the others?

Pentax has increasingly started to look like a company in stasis while all of the competition are iterating through new and improved products and I think that's reflected in the financial results. Some people act like it doesn't matter but decreasing sales and revenue feeds into a vicious feedback loop which if not arrested quickly can lead to death of the patient.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 09-21-2017, 06:31 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
This is where I think the people you hear arguing shrinking market share isn't important/FF will get cheaper/market the hell out of FF IQ advantages and they will come/are dead wrong. If Pentax continues to shrink, future Pentax FF DSLR's won't cost $1500, they'll cost $3000, assuming the imaging business can subsist on tiny market shares backed by low profit margins in the single digits. I doubt making 5% profit is enough to sustain R&D for future cameras and lenses. More likely it's barely enough to tread water.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-25-2017, 11:33 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
Cool. Only artisans care about that. Good enough is the bar that the mass market cares about.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-14-2017, 07:29 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
Pentax is lacking in more than market share at the moment... From personal observations over the past 2-3 years I've seen their shelf share has diminish drastically, disappearing from some major retailers entirely. The meager amounts of advertising I used to see? Gone. Formerly in-house repairs now outsourced. The only mind share left is from the people who grew up in the 60s or 70s. Even Ricoh's prized GR has been left to wither and die. In light of that I think Pentax's position is a lot worse than some of the other "niche" players currently in the mirrorless space like Fuji. Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, all have multiple legs up on Pentax.



Uh huh. If not enough people are buying the APS and FF DSLR's for it to be self-sustaining, would Theta sales be enough to prop up the former? Why would the company do it? The only thing keeping the K-mount alive at that point would be ego.

---------- Post added 08-14-2017 at 09:37 PM ----------



I doubt it. I see it all the time in different enthusiast forums where people develop distorted views like this.

$2000 won't be squeezing them out because most people won't drop $2000 on a camera.

Very few people print 20x30 so talking about better 20x30 prints at full frame against smaller sensors is irrelevant to the overwhelming majority.

FF sensor has 1-2 stops more ISO performance? Slightly less depth of field? Find somebody who cares!

While you and a handful of people around here might care about such things, it's not enough for Pentax to build a sustainable business around.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-13-2017, 10:02 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
I have the first generation of the 16mp Sony m43 sensor so it's a few steps behind. However the pixel pitch of a 16mp m43 sensor and a 24mp APS-C sensor is virtually identical with a very slight edge to the APS sensor (less than ~0.0002mm/pixel if I did my math right) so all things equal technology-wise they should perform almost identically.

Really though in the market it won't matter. The resolution, the ISO performance, what have you is enough for most people. Having a marginally better ISO 10,000 on a slightly bigger sensor isn't going to move the needle much for a company in Pentax's position. The slightly larger and technically better 1/1.7" and 1/2.3" sensors in compact cameras didn't save them from the inferior 1/2.6" and 1/3.0" sensors in the high-end and not-so-high-end smartphones.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-13-2017, 05:16 PM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
That was tongue in cheek. Go back a few years ago when some people expressed a desire for Pentax to pursue a smaller mirrorless system which used the same design language and principles as their K DSLR system, or Pentax value system as you call it, and a very common retort by others would be that there was no size advantage to be had so it made more sense to stick with K-mount for reasons. The K-01 was the answer they said. /rolleyes

As if someone who bought lenses like the 15/4, 21/3.2, or 43/1.9 would for reasons start buying 2.8 zoom lenses for a mirrorless camera. Bollocks. It was always a red herring tossed out here by the people who were the most resistant to change.



Back in the early days I wasn't wowed by the image quality coming from the smaller micro 4/3 cameras but the moment they switched to Sony with their 16 megapixel m43 sensor was a game changer. Not good enough is it? It's significantly better than the ubiquitous 6 megapixel sensor used in DSLR's for many years (including the Pentax DSLR I started out with) and I'm more than happy with the improved results.

Could it be better? If they could squeeze maybe 1 or 2 more stops of high ISO performance out of the sensor, I'd even be 100% happy with the low light output. Is the 20 megapixel sensor m43 better in that regard? I don't know I haven't looked at it. But the point is, it's close to the point where the differences between m43 and K-1 sized sensors won't matter to most people unless you look at paper all day.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-13-2017, 01:29 AM  
Financial Results:FY2018/03
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 675
Views: 67,984
But just 4 months ago we were told that for each Pentaxian buying K-1 another Nikon/Canon shooter jumped ship to Pentax! How could they be in trouble?

Is it too soon to joke about Ricoh hurrying up and re-issuing a few select legendary FA lenses "before they withdraw from the camera business" without people getting offended again?



You lasted longer than a lot of us. When all the rumours of a mirrorless system turned out to be the Q, many existing Pentax customers spent elsewhere. Just as you have now.



But but but but bro that's completely pointless because mirrorless lenses become just as big as K-mount lenses once you make them 200mm and 1.4! The ostrich farmers told me so!



Those people would probably like a mirrorless camera even more and they have plenty of choices on the market.



For years plenty of people around here said APS-C was good enough and for years many others did jump ship to get "FF".



In America contracts hide the true cost of the phone. Zero money down!

At any rate I don't even think going mirrorless now could save Pentax. The time to do it was back when micro 4/3 was a baby and still trash and before Fuji, Olympus, Sony, and Panasonic got entrenched. It was unfortunate to have had Hoya around at the time doing their corporate raiding. Now with Canon in the picture and Nikon finally waking up and saying me too, that door is closed in my mind.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-10-2017, 09:21 AM  
For each Pentaxian buying K-1 another Nikon/Canon shooter jumped ship to Pentax
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 1,039
Views: 100,899
Enter the Q mount. If they were going to do all of the above they shouldn't have wasted it on a dead end cell phone sensor platform.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-07-2017, 10:24 PM  
For each Pentaxian buying K-1 another Nikon/Canon shooter jumped ship to Pentax
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 1,039
Views: 100,899
Hello in there. Tell me, what color is the sky in your world?
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 05-07-2017, 10:14 PM  
For each Pentaxian buying K-1 another Nikon/Canon shooter jumped ship to Pentax
Posted By wjjstu
Replies: 1,039
Views: 100,899
Downsampled 4K to 1080 looks better than 1080 native. Nevertheless if the competition offers it as a basic feature then Pentax should at least make an effort to match. Have other non-resolution things like the codec, bit rates, and frame rates improved in the 1080 recordings? I remember they weren't all that hot in the first iterations.



That's exactly what I did. I initially bought into Pentax ecosystem because of the compact system of SLR's, FA Limiteds, and others like the DA15. During the Hoya years I was hoping for Pentax to bring the same design philosophies and image quality to a compact APS mirrorless system while the market was still young but instead we got the Q... I put some cash into a micro 4/3 system and pancakes and couldn't be happier. Still have most of my Pentax gear but it doesn't get out much anymore. This is money Pentax could have had. I might yet still get additional Pentax gear but it would be a cheap part timer WR body or something special like the return of legendary lenses like the 200mm macro. It would not be my daily driver.

It's why I giggle at people who say removing the mirror and decreasing the registration distance doesn't matter because lenses cancel the difference or it's too small for my gorilla hands, or some other nonsense. They say an updated mirrorless K-02 won't sink the company and it would be the best of both worlds/just as good! A micro 4/3 body without a viewfinder hump + 14mm pancake fits into the pocket of my light running jacket. The DA15 with any K DSLR doesn't fit into any of my coat pockets of any type. They definitely missed the boat with me. The limitations are real.
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